Western Mail Letters: Friday, 29 August, 2014

Your letters to the national newspaper of Wales

sir – In welcoming Douglas Carswell’s shock defection from the Conservatives to Ukip the anti-EU party’s Welsh MEP. Nathan Gill, from Llangefni, said Ukip’s opponents will no longer be able to claim the party has no MPs in the run-up to the 2015 Westminster election.

“It’s taken a little bit of the sting out of their tail,” he said

Mr Gill needs to read the Ukip press release more carefully, as Mr Carswell is stepping down from being a Tory MP and hopes to get re-elected as a Ukip MP in a by- election. Or does Mr Gill think it’s a done deal that Mr Carswell will win, leaving one boys club for another boys club?

Andrew Nutt

Heolddu Rd, Bargoed

Carwyn failed to get Assembly consent

Sir – So now the Labour First Minister of Wales has teamed up with the Tories to bully Scotland.

The pound sterling belongs to the people of Scotland every much as it does to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is Scottish oil that has helped prop up the value of the pound on world money markets over the past 40 years.

If the Scots vote Yes on September 18, as I hope they will, it will be in everyone’s interest to form a strong currency union. Acting out of sheer political spite would be the worst possible start for the new community of nations in the British Isles.

That is why this is a threat that is highly unlikely to be fulfilled if Scotland goes for independence. It is just part and parcel of the No campaign, rightly described as Project Fear.

Carwyn Jones will come to regret joining in the negative bully-boy tactics originated by Tory Chancellor George Osborne, just as he came to regret his invitation to relocate Trident missiles on Milford Haven. His latest foray has taken place without any attempt to secure the consent of the National Assembly for Wales. He certainly does not speak in my name.

Dafydd Williams

General Secretary Plaid Cymru 1971-1993

Peaceful protest and the Nato ring of steel

SIR – As a strong believer in the right to peaceful protest I was pleased to read about the “ring of steel” erected in Cardiff for the Nato Summit (Western Mail, August 27).

When the Home Office said the event was the biggest policing operation ever in Wales the first thing that came to mind was the Tonypandy Riots. During this the police used beyond reasonable force and showed a lack of proportion. The Home Office told me on this occasion it was a matter for the police.

With the “ring of steel” in place it is unlikely there will be a repeat of clashes with the police, which even today puts me off attending football matches in case I am beaten over the head for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There are always going to be protests at events like this, so I have to give the police credit for minimising risk of violence to peaceful protesters.

Jonathan Bishop LLM

Heol-y-Parc, Efail Isaf, Pontypridd

Abrupt end to a summer of cycling

SIR – I have enjoyed the most wonderful summer riding my bike around Cardiff. It has been an amazing achievement returning to cycling regularly out over the barrage in and around the marina and Bute park. I have used my bike to commute to the shops, visit friends get to appointments and losing weight and getting fit.

I am a responsible cyclist, I use my bell to warn pedestrians on cycle paths of my approach and I always thank them for acknowledging me on my bike. I wear high visibility clothing and a helmet.

I have even moved beyond our wonderful network of cycle paths to gently cycling on roads.

All this brought to a swift end. But not by an irresponsible car driver. No!

On Sunday I was quietly enjoying a ride over to Penarth Marina when a cyclist approached me from behind collided with me catapulting me off my bike and into road into the path of a car. The horrifying sound of my head hitting the ground first and the pain of feeling the impact of my body skidding along the concrete, is now a recurring trauma.

This irresponsible attitude to fellow cyclists is very dangerous. Needless to say I am now not able to get back on my bike due to my injuries. He is still speeding around though. Why as a responsible careful cyclist should I have to be terrified by other cyclists ?

Cyclists I implore you: Please slow down on cycle paths. Use your bells to warn others that you are approaching, and keep to the correct side of the cycle path.

Don’t give cyclists a bad name. Cycling is for pleasure, it’s not meant to be terrifying and dangerous.

Don’ make my summer of cycling a distant memory; make room for cyclists like me to cycle for pleasure safely.

His reason for using this term is that the EU “hasn’t had its accounts signed off for years and years”.

This false claim keeps resurfacing, mainly in the pages of the Daily Mail.

Last November the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said – “As independent auditor, the ECA has signed off the 2012 accounts of the European Union, as it has done each year since the 2007 financial year”.

So, why does this, easily checked, untruth keep on being quoted?

Each year the auditors highlight payments made that may or may not have been properly authorised. If these payments exceed a small percentage of the overall spend the auditor has to report the discrepancy. News outlets with an axe to grind then use this to claim “EU accounts not signed off again”

But, member states themselves control 80% of EU funds. This means that in most cases it is the member states that are responsible for detecting and correcting errors. The auditors are in fact highlighting a failure on their part to do so.

The EU gets blamed for the failings of the Member States.

Glyn Erasmus,

Parklands, Blackwood, Gwent

Aspiring to a peaceful caliphate

Sir – I see the members of the Amhiadiyaa Muslim Communty claim they are members of a peaceful caliphate.

This is a contradiction in terms, because a caliphate is a core part of a universal religion, Islam, which envisages a global political order in which all humankind will live under Muslim rule as either believers or subject communities. To achieve this goal all free, male, adult Muslims have to carry out an uncompromising struggle “in the path of Allah”, or jihad.

It is sad that liberal society has been abused by these followers of Islam, and what the belief in a multicultural society has led to. It is even worse that Cardiff has become a centre for this philosophy.

The population of Cardiff is expected to rise by 25% in the next decade. I wonder what the ethnic mix will be, and how many mosques we will have to build in Radyr and Creigiau.

Kate Whithorn

Watford, Caerphilly

Welsh rugby not quite the envy of the world

sir – In the latest Pickering Political Broadcast David Pickering of the WRU claims his management team is the envy of the world and that they have assembled the finest group of young players we have perhaps ever had.

Bold claims indeed. However the statistics and the results would suggest otherwise. Warren Gatland’s win record against the top six nations stands at 28% (only 4% against the top three) – and this during a time when France, Australia and England have experienced some very lean years.

The four regions’ results are even worse and are now seemingly considered also-rans in all of the competitions in which they take part.

The Welsh way of “moving the ball wide” regardless of the conditions (weather, personnel, opposition, field position or the score) shows a complete lack of intelligence and Wales’ most recent loss in South Africa summed up perfectly their inability to hold a lead by controlling the pace, territory and possession.

Even when chasing down a point deficit in the final moments their forward play showed a hopelessness and lack of collective organisation to get into position for a three-point kick at goal. The forwards couldn’t get rid of the ball quick enough.

Everyone seems to be up in arms about the contract issues and administrative squabbles. However the results in the professional game simply aren’t good enough – and all roads lead back to the style of play. Therefore 99% of coaches in particular and also management, commentators, reporters and players need to look at themselves. But they don’t have the intelligence and/or honesty to do this.

This is where an Englishman as Head of Rugby should be stamping his authority and using his experience to drive a change in mentality. With nearly a year in the job, Josh Lewsey would appear to be toeing the party line, keeping his head down and treading water until an alternative position comes up at HQ whilst “the rest of the world looks on enviously”.

However would Mr Lewsey be an MBE and the proud owner of a World Cup winner’s medal if the 2003 English pack weren’t street-wise and didn’t put in a decent shift? I doubt it!

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